Lil McDonald's

 In July, McDonald's had a series of blind box toys for their Happy Meals called Lil McDonald's. Doll collectors and people who collect McDonald's toys went crazy for them. (I did not know there were so many people who collected McDonald's toys.) Fortunately, many restaurants would sell you the toys without having to buy a Happy Meal, although I don't think they suspected how popular these were going to be. Without including duplicates, here is my final haul, posed with vintage Kelly and Stacie sized dolls for size perspective.

I knew most of these would only be suitable for the dolls to use as toys, although the food trays are not a bad size. The red and gold Happy Meals boxes are too big for these dolls. Sadly enough, the pumpkin bucket is too. McDonald's has been offering human size pumpkin, and other Halloween character, buckets for decades, and they are very popular. The bucket did look okay with a Shadow High doll. I think her big head helps offset the bucket proportions.

The register and the drinks dispenser are a fine size for the kid dolls to play "store." The white sign is apparently a place to order your own food, which is definitely too small. It should be as tall as an adult doll. It could work as an ad sign, maybe. The drink dispenser has a button on the top, which when pressed down activates a blue piece of plastic that looks like "water" coming down into the cup.

The miniature McDonald's booth would be a fun place for children to pretend their dolls are eating in the booth. I have some mini Polly Pocket dolls that came with Polly Pocket Janet in the 80s or 90s, that might fit in the booth, if I can find them.

The trays are a little small for actual one sixth scale, but they look good enough with the smaller dolls. Kelly thinks her apples look yummy. Stacie finds the milk mustache on her bottle funny.

I don't really even like McDonald's very much, but I like minis! I remembered after taking this picture that I also got a mini fryer, but it's not that exciting. It might even be a bit small for pretend kitchen play. The only toy I want is the mini restaurant. Facebook is alive right now with people buying, selling and trading Lil McDonald's pieces, so I should grab one soon if I want it. Is there a restaurant or store in your area of the world that you would like to see make mini versions of its products?

Happy Halloween

My daughter wore this costume to work today. I made the dress and the headband for her, and as Rachael pointed out, I also made my daughter. :) I made this dress for her all the way back in 2013 for a homecoming dance. The theme was A Night at Gatsby's, and kids don't normally dress to the theme of a high school dance, but she and my elder daughter did, and they probably were more comfortable than the kids who wore fancy dresses. She wore this dress again her senior year when she helped out a friend who was going to film school, and acted in a short film her friend made that was set in the 1920s.

As far as doll stuff, I was sick last week, not terribly, but enough that I really didn't have much motivation. I know it wasn't Covid, because Mr. BTEG had the same thing, and he got tested, as he has some health issues that would make it more dangerous for him. I got an ear infection when I was almost done with the cold, so that didn't help. My last Tonner 16" post is on my plate within the next few days!

My Last Halloween Project - Not Doll Related

I made this costume for the Dancer when she was 15. She wanted to wear it to a gaming convention called Origins. She's worn it a few times since, and she wanted to wear it to work today. The bodice desperately needed new binding, and I originally made the off-the-shoulder sleeves too large and too loose. So the Dancer and I drove out to a quilt store to pick out new cotton fabric for the binding, then I made some bias strips. The Dancer helped me rip off the old binding, I machine-sewed the new material on, then flipped the binding over the raw edges and hand-sewed it down. I also folded the sleeve material in half, tacked it together, and re-sewed the sleeves back on to the bodice by hand. She freshened up the fabric paint on the front and back of the bodice. I made this back in the original Frozen I heyday, so I was fortunate enough to find pre-printed material for the skirt. It doesn't look exactly like the movie, but I wasn't up for making a paneled skirt, and hand-painting several panels with the movie-accurate pattern. :P I also found her necklace, and the hair comb that Anna wears with this costume, on Etsy. I'm glad the Dancer has gotten as much wear out of this as she has, and of course she's planning on wearing it when she goes to see Frozen II.

I hope you all had a great Halloween. We don't get trick-or-treaters here, which I find sad. Maybe someday I'll have grandchildren to go out with.

October Instagram Challenge Day 9: Yellow

This one was a tricky one for me. I couldn't think of a lot of things related to autumn that are yellow, besides leaves. I did have a picture of one of my dolls next to some yellow violas, but that didn't feel very seasonal. Finally, I just went with Madeline's yellow hat. Fiona has just found it, to complete her Madeline Halloween costume.

Some of the upcoming challenges are a little bit tricky or overwhelming too, but I'm looking at this as a good exercise in discipline. Sometimes, if you really want to get a project done, you need to do the work even if you just don't feel like it. Sometimes, there are real physical or mental health issues, but many people, I think, just don't feel like doing a creative project if the spark isn't there. That's definitely been me in the past, but there are so many things that I want to accomplish, that I want to develop better discipline.

October Instagram Challenge Day 3: Candy

When my sisters and I went trick-or-treating, the first thing we would do when we got home was dump all of our candy on the floor and sort it out. I don't remember us doing a lot of trading, although I've never liked chewing gum, so I'm sure I gave that away. But having our two girls above dump out all of their candy would have involved me making up a lot more miniature candy than I wanted to, so these two youngsters are already digging through their bags and trying to make trades. Fiona, the redhead, is wearing Mini American Girl Felicity's dress, and the brunette, who needs a name, is wearing Mini American Girl Kirsten's dress. I made the orange bag, and the cloth bag, which is supposed to be a pillowcase. Mr. BTEG and his sisters always took pillowcases trick-or-treating, and I remember him saying that they would fill multiple pillowcases. Those were glorious times, when we kids were old enough to go trick-or-treating by ourselves. My sisters and I didn't fill up pillowcases, but it was fun running around the neighborhood after dark, trying to hit as many houses as possible. We made sure our daughters had fun Halloweens too.

October Instagram Challenge Day 2: Decoration

I think my dolls will be doing most of the decorating this Halloween. :( Right now our home looks like a tornado hit it. I'm trying to sort and declutter things. Currently, I'm at the stage where everything is out of place and a crazy mess. Plus, Mr. BTEG and the Dancer are going to be involved in a gaming convention this weekend, so a good part of the living room and all of my dining room table are filled with their prep. Maybe I will able to get stuff done when they're out of my hair, anyway.

Happy Halloween!

Ashlynn was sure the directions to Raven's party told her to go this way...

Happy Halloween!

Our three friends here are on their way to a costume party. I think they're going to get the best prizes, don't you?

You will be seeing more of me in November!